In bowling establishments, two adjacent lanes are usually associated with one bowling ball return race that is common to both. "Bowling alleys" and "bowling establishments" are understood to include those for both ninepins and ten-pin bowling.
After a bowling ball has been rolled at the pins, it is lifted out of the ball pit by an elevator and then placed on the bowling ball return race or track. Before arriving at the player's position, the arriving bowling balls are braked and lifted up to a level where the player can conveniently reach them.
Apparatus has previously been provided--see the referenced U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,172--to lift a bowling ball by clamping the bowling ball between a guide race and a pivotable lift mechanism which includes a transport belt, driven by a motor, frictionally engaging the bowling ball to race it along the guide path to a desired position. The structure of the referenced U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,172 was designed for placement at the pin position of a bowling alley. The arrival and lifting of bowling balls is readily controlled at that position. Only a single bowling ball will be received at the pin position at any one time.
Placement of such an apparatus as the player's position causes difficulties. The bowling ball must reach the lifting position with a minimum speed in order to be engaged by the transport belt. A further precondition for satisfactory ball transporting is that the transport belt not already be occupied by a previous ball.
If two bowling balls happen to arrive on the ball return race one close behind the other, it may be that in conventional apparatus of this kind only the first ball will be lifted, while the following ball stops where it is. When a disruption of this kind occurs, the race has to be cleared by hand, which involves the tedious removal of the covering boards.